Man pleads not guilty in threats against DA

Staff and wire reports

RIVERSIDE - A Perris man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges
he threatened Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco
through a newspaper ad.

Chandler William Cardwell, 32, appeared at the Hall of Justice
in Riverside and pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all
allegations against him, according to Riverside County Superior
Court records.

Cardwell has been charged with threatening the life of a public
official, making criminal threats, forgery and two counts of
illegal possession of a firearm, court records state. There are
allegations with each count that the crimes were committed at the
direction of or to benefit a criminal street gang.

The California attorney general's office is prosecuting Cardwell
because the threat was made against the county district attorney,
whose office would normally prosecute criminal cases.

Cardwell worked in the classified advertising department of The
Riverside Press-Enterprise, in which the ad ran one day after
Pacheco had taken on one of Riverside's street gangs.

On Aug. 24, Pacheco held a news conference to announce a court
injunction was being filed against the East Side Riva gang, calling
it the city of Riverside's largest and most violent gang. If a
judge OKs the injunction, it will allow law enforcement officers
much more leeway in arresting members of the gang.

Cardwell is not listed among the more than 100 alleged gang
members named in the injunction.

The Aug. 25 ad for a garage sale listed Pacheco's home address
and cellular telephone number and said proceeds would benefit the
"Rod Pacheco Memorial Fund."

Cardwell was arrested Aug. 31 after authorities executed search
warrants at the Press-Enterprise and discovered that his cell phone
was used to order the ad, authorities said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether anyone assisted
Cardwell and how he located Pacheco's home address and phone
number, authorities said.

Ronald R. Redfern, chief executive officer and publisher of The
Press-Enterprise Co., said the company conducts reference checks on
job applicants.

"We had no idea the employee was involved in a gang and we still
don't know that he is or that he was," Redfern said.

Members of Cardwell's family have denied that he participated in
the threat and said that he was not involved with the gang.

Cardwell is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at Robert
Presley Detention Center in Riverside, jail records state. He is
scheduled to return to court next week for another hearing.